I am a senior attorney in NRDC’s New York Urban Program. One of the best things about being in the Urban Program is that I get to work on a broad array of matters, some of which you wouldn’t even automatically think of as being “urban.” These days, I spend most of my time fighting to ensure that new fracking isn’t allowed to happen in New York unless and until the risks have been comprehensively and properly considered. We want NY to serve as a model that helps put the pressure on other states, like Pennsylvania, where inadequately regulated fracking is already wreaking havoc on communities and the environment. On the other end of the spectrum, I work to advance policies that require manufacturers to take responsibility for recycling their products, like electronic waste – or packaging – at the end-of-life.

The White House Council of Economic Advisors today released a report that indicated it is "taking steps to ensure that the expansion of natural gas and oil production be done responsibly and with environmental safeguards." It goes on to say...continued→

We all enjoyed some pre-Christmas euphoria over Governor Cuomo's historic decision to ban fracking in the State of New York. And we deserved the merriment, given the governor's noble adherence to his oft-articulated, and correct, principle: Let science, not politics,...continued→

As most of the world now knows, yesterday Governor Cuomo made the incredibly bold and principled decision to ban fracking in New York State. For those of us who have been working so hard over the past almost seven years...continued→

Just over a month after his re-election, Governor Cuomo has been making waves on fracking—telling reporters in recent days that he will make a major decision before the end of the year. With a moratorium in place since before he...continued→

This Thanksgiving, what I am most grateful for (aside from my family, of course) is that I live in a state with a governor who has so far stood strong against the pressures from the oil and gas industry and...continued→

Last month, NRDC engaged a nationally recognized opinion research firm to conduct polling in New York State to evaluate public attitudes about fracking and clean energy. Importantly, this is the first statewide poll in at least two years – and...continued→

In New York’s Southern Tier, the very heart of the Marcellus Shale region where natural gas lies locked in dense rock, new poll results show a strong majority of people are worried about the health and environmental impacts of the...continued→

When the New York State Court of Appeals ruled last week that municipalities have the right to use their zoning codes to ban fracking, my reaction was one of intense relief and celebration. But I immediately became concerned that the...continued→

The mad end-of-session rush in Albany is upon us, the time of year for frenetic horse-trading and multiple must-do lists. Our list is short: The Senate, where too often good environmental legislation goes to die, must pass a three-year moratorium...continued→

For some New Yorkers, fracking is a future nightmare. For others, it’s a delightful daydream of prosperity. It’s pretty safe to file State Senator George Maziarz in that daydream category, judging by his comment hinting that Governor Cuomo is likely...continued→

Last month, I blogged about the problem of oil and gas companies requiring landowners who complain of water contamination, air pollution and/or health effects from nearby drilling operations to sign so-called "non-disclosure agreements," or "NDAs," when they enter into settlement agreements....continued→

Now more than ever we find ourselves at a critical juncture when it comes to the question of fracking in New York State. With new information about fracking’s risks becoming available, literally on almost a weekly basis, it is clearer...continued→

It was Nancy Reagan who famously popularized the phrase “just say no,” in the context of drug abuse. Now, an attorney named Helen Holden Slottje has won major recognition for helping dozens of municipalities across the State of New York...continued→

What is the fracking industry trying to sell us in Marcellus? Certainly not logical consistency. In one notorious case, now described at length by Jonathan H. Marks in The Hastings Center Report, we get a stark look at the contradictory...continued→

Arriving at the same time as a big-screen film about an epic, world-changing flood described in the Book of Genesis, the almost biblical sweep of gloomy news from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change portrays an unfolding global future of...continued→

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